U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter vowed to expand defense collaboration with Japan, as he held talks with his Japanese counterparts Wednesday in Tokyo.
Carter is on the first day of a three-day visit during which the two sides will renegotiate the defense coop-eration guidelines between Washington and Tokyo.
The trip is also meant to highlight the two countries' long-standing military alliance, a key part of the White House's attempts to refocus its priorities on Asia.
Speaking alongside Japanese Defense Minister General Nakatani, Carter said he was "committed to overseeing the next phase" of the so-called rebalance.
During his talks with Nakatani, Carter also said he "confirmed" the U.S. stance on the East China Sea islands that are at the center of a dispute with China.
"I also reaffirmed President Obama's July 2014 commitment to apply our security treaty to all areas under Japanese administration and our continued strong opposition to any unilateral coercive action that seeks to undermine Japan's administrative control of the Senkaku Islands," he said.